Two teams played, what started out, an evenly-matched game but ended up with the visitors coming out on top.

The Blue Earth Area Buccaneers hosted the Luverne Cardinals on Thursday, Feb. 28.

The first half of the game ended in a tie of 33-33, but after halftime the Cards pulled ahead with a win.

Luverne earned many of their points by way of foul shots and consistency with their threes.

In fact, the first two points on the scoreboard were made by the Cards’ Brett Heronimus who was fouled by Brandyn Olsen.

But, the Bucs pulled ahead and stayed in the lead for the first half of the game.

The score was at 29-23 and there was 4:30 left on the clock when Luverne made a three-pointer.

The Cards then sank two shots at the free-throw line and followed it up with another three. That put them just ahead of the Bucs for the first time in the game.

Luke Monson responded quickly with a basket to regain the lead. That didn’t last long because the Cards sank a shot just as quickly.

However, Monson fought through a crowd of Cards players to sink another two pointer and put the score at 33-32.

Heronimus was fouled by Monson and was awarded two foul shots. He made one and ended the first half with a tie.

The Cards put up a tough fight in the second half and made it difficult for the Bucs to regain their footing.

Luverne started off by scoring two baskets in a row, but BEA’s Isaac Darrington made a shot in return. Cards retaliated with a three pointer.

From that point on in the game, the Cards commanded the lead, and continued to make most of their many shots from the free-throw line.

The game ended with the Cards sinking two shots from the line, putting the score to 85-71.

Luverne had a total of 40 free-throw attempts and made 25 of them. They were also 6 of 7 from the three-point range and 20 of 38 with their baskets.

The Bucs were 23 of 44 from the two-point range, 5 of 18 with their three point attempts and 10 of 13 from the foul line.

They also had 30 rebounds, 19 on defense and 11 on offense and had 14 assists. Unfortunately it was the 26 fouls that set them back.

Brandyn Olsen was the top scorer for the Bucs brining in 27 points. He was 10 for 13 with his twos and 7 of 9 from the free-throw line.

He also had six assists, five rebounds and two steals.

Darrington racked up 12 points for BEA and was 5 of 11 from the field and 2 of 2 with his foul shots. He grabbed nine rebounds, six on offense and three on defense.

Barslou brought in ten points, Monson brought in eight and Colin Squiers had six.

Barslou and Squiers both sank two three-point shots apiece and Brad More made the last three of the game.

The Cards’ Matt Arends and Heronimus each scored 19 points and Matt Overgaard score 17. Heronimus scored three of their six three-point baskets.

JCC 67, BEA 55

The Blue Earth Area Buccaneers tried to use the long bomb to keep up with the Jackson County Central Huskies, but in the end it was JCC with a 67-55 win.

The Bucs launched 29 shots from behind the three-point arc, but only connected with eight of them for a 28 percent completion rate.

The Huskies, meanwhile, only tried 12 long-range shots and made four of them.

Dallas Barslou was the high point player for the Buccaneers, and had the most three point shots.

He had 16 points, made 4 of 14 for three pointers and was 4 of 7 from the free-throw line.

Isaac Darrington added 13 points including a perfect 5 for 5 from the floor. He also had seven rebounds.

Luke Monson and Colin Squiers each added nine points to BEA’s tally. All of Squiers points came from a 3 of 9 performance from the three-point line. Monson added 10 rebounds to his stats.

Brandyn Olsen had six points, four assists and four rebounds for BEA.

As a team the Bucs were 20 of 51 from the floor and 7 of 17 from the line. The Huskies were 24 of 51 from the floor and 15 of 24 from the line.

Jon Harmening led JCC with 23 points, while Taylor Christopher had 14 and Austin Hinckley had 10.

JCC outscored BEA 39-35 in the first half, and 28-20 in the second half.

LCWM 81, BEA 68

The Blue Earth Area boys basketball team found too big of a hill to climb when they traveled to Lake Crystal on Saturday afternoon.

The Buccaneers lost 81-68 to the Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial Knights.

The game had been set for Friday night, Feb. 22, but due to snowy travel conditions was postponed to Saturday afternoon at 1:30 p.m.

BEA trailed by seven at the halftime break, 34-27, and were outscored by six points in the second half, 47-41.

The Buccaneers had three players in double figures, but the Knights ended with four hitting for double digits.

Brandyn Olsen led BEA with 18 points including going 6 of 10 from two-point range and 1 for 1 from behind the arc. He was also a very good 3 of 4 from the free throw line. In addition, he had six assists.

Isaac Darrington hit a double-double, with 16 points and 11 rebounds. He was 6 of 12 from the floor and 4 of 7 from the charity stripe.

Dallas Barslou was the third Buc to make it into double figures, with 14 points. He was 4 of 12 from the floor with three of those from three-point range. He was also 3 of 4 from the line and had four assists.

Luke Monson had eight points for BEA and Steven Plocker and Colin Squiers each had five.

As a team, BEA was 20 of 38 (53 percent) for two-point shot attempts, 5 of 17 (29 percent) for threes and 13 of 19 (68 percent) from the free-throw line.

The Knights were 20 of 31 (65 percent) for two-point shots, 7 of 16 (44 percent) for threes and 20 of 30 (67 percent) from the line.